Touched 7

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The next day came bright and early as it usually did. Once again, it was a beautiful morning for a light jog to school. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing love songs, the things you would typically see on a late spring day. Today however, Samson walked to school. His morning jogs were usually his most relaxing part of the day, but today he walked with mind deep in thought.

As he usually did, Samson had Logan on the brain. This time, however, he was thinking more into it then he typically did. Last night, he had finished reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter in a single sitting, and it was really an eye opener for him. Usually, he would quickly read his books and finish all of his assignments with ease, but this was probably the first time he was drawn into the story itself. Even though he had only slept for three hours, he didn’t even feel the slightest bit tired as he sorted through his various thoughts.

A strong, proud woman. Logan wasn’t the most physically fit, but he was very strong willed, that was for sure. Samson could testify how strong willed Logan could be.

An outcast to society, unwanted by anyone. No one wanted to be around him. However, Logan acted as if he didn’t want anybody either. Why would Logan wish to be left alone, Samson wondered.

A red emblem, a symbol of the sin committed. Logan had the same symbol stitched into all of his clothing. Samson had presumed it was a form of trademark, a symbol that represented Logan. He had always thought it was so cool that Logan had something like that, and privately wanted one of his own. But now, after reading that book, he began to wonder if there was another meaning behind it. Could Logan be hiding a deep, dark secret that Samson could only guess about? Was whatever it was the sole reason why he is so mean and bitter all the time? Eve had said that Logan was a great guy, but if that were the case, why did Logan act like he did at school? Perhaps he was just looking too much into this, but Samson couldn’t help it; he was desperate for a reason, any reason as to why Logan was being so distant.

Samson inhaled deeply, ignoring the creaking protest of his shirt as his chest stretched it to its limits. One of these days, he’ll have to stop acting like a wimp in front of Logan and get to the bottom of the whole thing. After all, he was a football stud! He had, what, Two hundred pounds of muscle over Logan? He shouldn’t let someone so tiny intimidate him any longer. For now though, he’ll just have to make it through another day at school, starting with his the climb up the front stairs.

“You sonovabitch!

And it looked like the day was going to start off with a bang to boot. Samson turned and watched Riley rapidly climb the stairs towards him. Today Riley didn’t have his usual superior cocky expression, but something close to a towering rage. Samson tensed his body, half expecting Riley to throw a punch as Riley got closer. The act made his already tight clothes to stretch and creak even more under his impressive large physique. To his surprise, however, Riley merely stopped in front of Samson. He still looked positively pissed though.

“What can I do for you today?” Samson asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Riley looked as if he was barely able to prevent himself from striking Samson. “You…how low can you go?”

Samson raised an eyebrow at Riley in surprise. This was new. “Excuse me?”

“I can’t believe you had the [b]nerve[/i] to drag Eve into this!” Riley glared.

“Eve?” Samson blinked. “What are you…oh.” For a moment Samson had forgotten that Eve was not only Logan’s sister, but Riley’s as well.

“Oh?” Riley repeated. “Oh? You’re messing with my lil’ sister and all you can say is oh?

“First of all,” Samson said calmly, “All I did was help a little girl find her mother. I didn’t even know she was your sister until after I saw your mom. Second, if she wants to hang out with me, who can say no?”

I can!” Riley yelled, a vein popping out the side of his forehead. “Stay the fuck away from my family, you got that?”

Something about what Riley said really ticked him off. Maybe it was the fact that Riley just inadvertently told him to stay away from Logan. “I’m amazed that you actually care about your family. From what I hear, you deny having a little brother.”

Riley stepped up closer, pressing his body into Samson. They glared directly into each other’s eyes, their foreheads touching and their huge barrel chests pushing each other as they for space. Every now and then they would tense their pecs, trying to push the other back with sheer muscular power. “Stay. The. Hell. Away. From. Logan.” Riley said through clenched teeth, stressing every word.

“Make me.” Samson said defiantly.

Riley’s nostrils flared and his entire body shook with rage. Every muscle in his body tensed up and his hands tightened into two large fists. This time Samson knew for sure that his next move was going to be a punch, so he prepared himself to take a preemptive strike.

“Riley!” The sharp voice made both of the boys turn their heads towards the owner. Right on schedule, Sophie and Howard were descending the stairs rapidly.

“Stay out of this!” Riley snapped at her. “This time it’s personal.”

“Wasn’t it already personal?” Howard whispered audibly to Sophie.

Riley shot Howard a dark look. “Both of you back off!”

“Not until you do it yourself.” Sophie ordered him. She was probably the only girl in the school that could possibly order football players around and get away with it.

Riley only gave a small laugh with no hint of humor in it whatsoever. “Your little trick won’t work on me today, Sophie. I’m too pissed off right now.”

Sophie stood there and stared Riley down. “So what exactly is your problem?”

“It’s none of your business, so butt out already!” Riley said curtly.

“Fine, if you won’t tell me, I’ll ask Howard if he can get me some answers.” Sophie placed her hands on her hips and turned her head towards her boyfriend.

Riley’s face suddenly grew pale. “Y-you wouldn’t!” His eyes darted between Sophie and Howard.

Sophie turned her head back towards Riley. “One more wrong word from you and I’ll ask him all sorts of questions.” Her voice had a sharp edge to it as her eyes pierced into Riley’s.

Samson looked at this exchange, confused at the words they were throwing at each other. Just what was going on here? There was obviously more going on between the three of them then Samson could understand. Just why would Riley be afraid of Howard? Although Howard had a nice and lean swimmer’s build, Riley far outweighed him by almost a whole hundred pounds. Yet for some unexplained reason, Sophie used Howard as a threat and it was working; for the first time Samson saw Riley actually looked scared.

“Well?” Sophie asked Riley in an almost amused tone. “Are you going to back down, or do I start asking away?”

Beads of sweat formed on Riley’s forehead as he glanced over at Howard nervously. Howard just stood aloof, acting very casual about the whole thing. This seemed to make Riley even more nervous. “Fine.” He said bitterly. “But one of these days you won’t be there to protect him Sophie, and I’ll get to do whatever I want to him.”

“How little you know me.” Sophie said confidently.

Riley shot her a dark look, and then he stomped past Samson and up the stairs without looking back.

Samson watched Riley leave before he turned his attention to Sophie and Howard. “What was that about?”

“I can ask you the same question.” Sophie countered.

“I met his little sister yesterday,” Samson explained briefly, “and I think she likes me. Riley took it personal and decided to blow it out of proportion. Now, what was that between you two and him? And what did you mean you’d ask Howard for some answers? Does he have some dirt on Riley or something?”

“She was mostly bluffing.” Howard explained, his offhand manner making the entire situation seem negligible. “What else could she do? She’s just one girl against a two hundred thirty pound football player.”

“Just a girl?” Sophie tilted her head towards Howard slightly, her tone speaking entire volumes.

Howard winced. “Sorry, didn’t mean that.”

“For your sake, I would hope so.” She said with a hint of steel.

Howard winced again.

Samson frowned. They were definitely hiding more then they were letting on. Before Samson could ask again, however, the shrill screech of the school bell cut him short.

“Well, we better get to class.” Sophie announced.

“We’ll catch you later.” Howard flashed Samson a grin, then lead Sophie up the stairs before Samson could say another word.

The fuck was that all about? Samson thought, but shook it off. He’ll have another opportunity to find out later. For now he had better get a move on or he’ll be late for class.

Although Samson had resolved to put aside his problems to focus on school, Samson found himself unable to pay attention during class again. He scribbled down a few notes for his history class, but even he would have trouble understanding the short abbreviated sentences. Who could translate “1812 Br/Am fr try” to “The War of 1812 between the British and Americans for territory?” Try as he might, he kept on thinking about that book, which in turn lead him to think about Logan and what kind of hidden problems he might have.

Was Logan purposely trying to make his own life miserable? It was as if Logan was trying to force everyone back and go through life with a spiteful soul. Logan chased other people away (especially Samson) and had no friends whatsoever. Samson couldn’t imagine what his life would be like without any friends, and the fact that Logan didn’t have any made Samson almost pity the poor guy. However, even though Logan acted all bitter, there was still that glimmer of a softer version hiding under the coat of ice. Eve had said Logan was a kind and gentle person at home, and although it was at first hard for him to swallow it, Samson begun to believe it as well. Samson had seen it whenever he watched Logan sit down and sketch something that seemed completely mundane and ordinary, and yet transformed it into something that should be looked upon as a work of art. Logan would go so into it, his face turning almost excited and very thoughtful about every stroke and line.

Thinking about drawing, Samson decided to doodle a bit more in his book. As long as it got his mind off of Logan, he didn’t care if he was still wasting time. Absentmindedly, he drew a simple outline and began to fill it in. At first it looked ordinary enough, just a simple sketch in the making. But as time passed by it became more and more detailed. Samson found himself paying attention down to every little wrinkle, every strand of hair. When the bell rang, he was finished with his picture and he gawked at it.

Staring back at him from his notebook page was his mother’s face. It looked so realistic that if he didn’t know any better, Samson would have thought that it was a black and white picture. Samson stared down at his hand, and at the ordinary graphite pencil he held. How did he draw such a great picture? Just last week he couldn’t even draw a damn apple without fucking it up! He didn’t have any more time to think on it further since nearly everyone had already left the classroom, and the teacher was waiting for Samson to leave. Quickly, Samson closed his notebook and exited the classroom. He’d have more time to experiment his miraculous talent later, after practice.

* * *

“Is something wrong?” Jamal walked up to Samson.

Samson paused with his shirt in his hand. He had just finished an afternoon of hard played football practice and had taken a nice hot shower. His body felt so invigorated and bustling with energy. If he didn’t have his problem of climaxing, he would have been able to fuck until midnight if he wanted to. He had been about to pull on his clothes when Jamal came up to him. A lot of girls would do anything to see him like that, his large muscles glistening with moisture and decorated with droplets of water that still clung to his body. His pecs look round and full, with two quarter sized nipples crowned on the very tips. His biceps and triceps fought for space on his arms, each movement causing them to bulge and flex. His shoulders and deltoids rolled around and pressed against one another. His legs stood strong to support the mass of the upper body, each head of his quads visible and his calves appeared like two softballs stuffed under his flawless bronze skin. He had just whipped off his towel so his flaccid yet still amazingly large tool hung halfway to his knees, with a pair of lemon sized balls nestled within the hair of his crotch. He looked over to Jamal, who still had a towel wrapped around his waist. “Is something wrong? Not really. Why do you ask that?”

Jamal scratched the back of his head, causing his own nicely developed bicep to flex beneath his chocolate colored skin. “You seemed a little out of it during practice today. I mean, you play just as good as yesterday, but it didn’t look like you put everything into playing today. I just wanted to know if something’s bugging you.”

Samson hesitated for a moment, and then decided to tell Jamal. Jamal sounded genuinely concern, and Samson wanted to at least prevent the friend he did have from getting worried about him. He described briefly about that morning’s events, watching Jamal nod occasionally while he told his story.

“Wow, Riley sounds like he was really pissed off.” Jamal remarked after Samson had finished.

“He wasn’t pissed,” Samson corrected, “he was downright fucked up furious. For a moment I seriously thought he was gonna jump me. If Sophie hadn’t come in when she did, I’d ‘ave fought him right then and there. I could’ve gotten suspended for fighting, or even cut from the team.”

Jamal had a serious expression on his face. “I think you should stay away from the Wardens, Samson.”

Samson blinked at him twice. “What?”

“Seriously man, the entire family is fucked up.” Jamal continued on. If Jamal’s face wasn’t so serious, Samson would have thought he was joking. “Riley is out to get you and Logan treats you like shit. Now I know I can’t really say who you can or can’t hang out with, but as your friend I have to tell you that for your own good, you should stay the hell away from them.”

Samson stared at him, stunned. He felt a bit of rage well up in him, and for a brief moment he had the urge to grab Jamal by the head and slam it into the locker for saying something like that to him. However, Samson reminded himself that Jamal was his friend, and cracking his skull would put a serious dent in their relationship. Samson took several cleansing breaths to get his temper under control. He wanted until he was completely calm again before he spoke.

“I appreciate your concern, Jamal.” Samson told him flatly. “But I’m not going to run away from this. I can take care of myself fine. And no matter what you say, I won’t stay away from Logan either. He’s my friend, after all.”

Jamal shook his head. “I seriously don’t see how you can consider that…guy your friend.” He said, carefully avoiding calling Logan what he had really thought to say. “But I guess I shoulda known you wouldn’t listen to me. You’re as stubborn about Logan as Sophie and Howard.”

“Sophie and Howard?” Samson frowned. “What do they have anything to do with Logan?”

“You mean you don’t know?” Jamal asked, surprised.

“Know what?” Samson inquired further.

“That they’re friends with Logan too.”

“They’re what?

Jamal took a step back, his eyes wide. “Dude, I thought you knew. Just about everyone knows that. I mean, you guys are all friends, so I assumed-”

“I’m going to kill them.” Samson growled.

Jamal looked at Samson sharply. “Wh-what?”

“I’m going to kill them!” Samson yelled this time. He punched the lockers angrily, the sound of his fist striking metal cracked like a shot from a rifle. The blow caused a huge dent in five lockers and one of the doors flew off its hinges. The other lockers would never open again unless someone cut the doors out because the metal was so twisted and bent out of shape. There was even a bit of smoke, indicating how hot the steel was now.

“Samson, calm down!” Jamal reached forward and tried to grab him by the shoulders, but Samson shrugged him off like he was nothing.

Still angry, Samson grabbed his shirt and yanked it over his head. He heard the material actually rip as he forced it onto his huge, tensed up body. Jamal’s eyes bulged as he watched Samson’s sleeves burst open to reveal his bulging biceps and a long tear form down the back of Samson’s blue shirt. Similarly, when Samson pulled on his jeans, the sides blew out as his quads demanded more room. Samson didn’t even bother putting his socks on as he shoved his big feet into his sneakers and then raced off. Sophie had club after school, and Howard waits for her to finish. If he hurried, he could catch them just before they leave and get some answers out of them.

How dare they? He thought as he stomped through the halls. He thought about everything he had said to them, about how he told them how he felt about Logan and all of his problems. He thought about the fears and worried that he had confessed, and all of the comfort they had given them. Now he knew they were playing him all along. He trusted them! He treated them like friends! More then friends, even. And while he was pouring his heart out, they were probably laughing at him behind his back while they told Logan everything. They all probably enjoyed seeing him suffer and to laugh at how desperate he was. How could they betray him like this? How dare they do this to him? He was going to make them pay dearly for this!

Samson spotted them at the end of a long hallway. With a burst of speed he sprinted down faster then he ever had before. He didn’t slow down until he was almost right on top of them. The two lovers turned in surprise and looked up at the raging Samson.

HOW DARE YOU TWO?” Samson roared as he looked down at them. His skin was cherry red and his body tensed up even more, casing more tears to appear all over.

“How dare I what?” Sophie asked firmly, crossing her arms. She stared into the face of rage with a stern, strong look that made Samson suddenly think twice about the whole thing.

“How dare you two go behind my back and tell Logan everything!” Samson yelled. He was still furious, but he felt himself quickly begin to calm down for some, unexplainable reason. Maybe it was because Sophie and Howard weren’t acting exactly as they were supposed to. They were supposed to be cowering in fear, begging for forgiveness. Instead, Sophie was making a bold front and Howard didn’t look worried at all.

“Come on man,” Howard said in his usual carefree manner. “You know we wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Liar!” Samson snapped at him. “You’re friends with Logan, and yet you tried to hide it from me!”

“We didn’t hide it.” Sophie told him in a scolding manner. “If we did, we would not publicly talk with Logan during school. Just about everyone in the school knows that we consider Logan a dear friend. If you had bothered to look at who your friends liked to hang out with, you would have known that. I had assumed that you knew about our friendship with Logan since all four of us are friends with each other, but I see now that I was wrong. Frankly, I’m disappointed in you that you haven’t figured it out yet.”

Suddenly Samson stopped feeling angry and started feeling rather embarrassed. It was true, he didn’t bother look into that. He had been so focused on Logan that he didn’t even take the time to find out if Logan had any friends. Since it seemed like everyone hated Logan, he had assumed that Logan was alone. Now he knew otherwise. “I…I didn’t know.” He said, trying to rectify the situation.

“Obviously you didn’t.” Sophie stated heartlessly. “You may be the top of the school when it concerns academics, but when it concerns other people you are remarkably dense. Did you honestly believe we would tell Logan something you wanted to keep private?”

“W-well…” Samson looked away in shame. “No, I guess not. I was just, er, surprised, that’s all.”

“Surprised?” Howard folded his hands behind his head. “It seems to me you were straight out angry about it.”

Samson felt his face grow hot. He had really made a fool of himself this time. “Sorry guys.”

Howard laughed and patted Samson on the arm. “Hey man, don’t be. Just…make sure you get your facts straight before you kill someone, a’ight? It’s kinda hard to say you’re sorry to someone if they’ve been put into the ground already.”

A corner of Samson’s mouth rose up slightly. “Yea…thanks for being so understanding.”

“Don’t thank me, thank Sophie.” Howard laughed once again. “If she wasn’t here, I would’ve crapped my pants.”

“Language.” Sophie chided.

“Sorry.” Howard said automatically.

“So,” Samson looked at them rather awkwardly. “What does Logan say about me?”

Sophie gave Samson a stern look, and Samson immediately regretted asking. “Why do you want to know that?”

“Well, since you guys know him best, you can tell me how I can…well, get back with him.” Samson suggested hopefully.

Sophie gave Samson a very disproving look. “What makes you think we’ll betray his trust and tell you?” She asked firmly.

Ouch. He knew he should have expected that, but Samson still felt a little disappointed. “Not even a little?” Samson tried to wheedle a bit of info out of them.

“If I do tell you, then I suppose it’s only fair that I start telling Logan what you say about him.” Sophie threatened.

Samson instantly became scared and quickly shook his head. The thought about Logan knowing a fraction of the things he said to them was almost too much for him to bear! “Nonono please don’t do that! I promise I’ll stop asking, just…just don’t tell him anything!”

“I thought so.” Sophie said smugly with a half smile. “Listen, I know you’re a little desperate, but Howard and I are doing the best that we can.”

“Yea, we really wanna see you two get along with each other.” Howard added, grinning. “Logan is being stubborn about it as usual, but then again so are we.”

Samson stared at them. “You…you’re trying to get the two of us together?”

“Well of course.” Sophie crossed her arms.

“The both of you guys are our pals.” Howard grinned. “It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t try to get ya both to get along with one another. Just give us another month or two and we’ll probably get Logan to crack. The two of you will be best buds again in no time.”

Samson stared at them harder, touched by what they said. Even though he had been raging mad with them earlier for being Logan’s friends, Howard and Sophie had been trying to get the two of them back together all that time. He had always felt grateful to have someone to talk to about his problems, but to think that these two were actually trying to help…it was almost too much. He just didn’t know what to say. Without warning he grabbed the both of them and hugged them tight, lifting the both of them off their feet. “Oh you guys!” He said as he squeezed them in is big arms. “You…you don’t know how happy it makes me!”

“If you’re happy, then why are you suffocating us?” Howard joked from somewhere near Samson’s right pec.

“You can put us down now.” Sophie ordered calmly.

Samson laughed as he gave them one more squeeze before he set them down. He watched as Howard wobbled a bit, though Sophie was still beautifully composed as always.

“Man, for a moment there I thought I was gonna get crushed like a daisy.” Howard said as he steadied himself. “Dude, you’re getting really huge, and I think your clothes would agree.”

Samson blinked and looked down. For the first time he noticed all of the tears and split seams that he had made when he had yanked on his clothes. His sleeves had burst open, revealing his huge pumped up arms. A small tear had formed under his left pec, and the sides had ripped open a bit from his wide lats. His seams in his jeans had also given away, revealing his bronze skin as well as the color of his boxer shorts. “I, uh, heard about you guys after I took my shower, and I pulled them on in such a hurry that I guess I messed them up as I yanked them on.” Even though he had said that, a part of him felt that it was a lie.

Fortunately for him, the two of them seemed to believe Samson’s story.

“It’s too bad, cuz that was a really nice shirt and jeans.”

“Anyways, the two of us better be going.” Howard said, offering his arm out to Sophie. “We have a date tonight.”

“Oh, nice.” Samson nodded.

“We’ll see you later.” Sophie told him. “Oh, and good luck on the game this weekend. Just one more and you’re going to the playoffs, right?”

“Right.” Samson grinned, “Well I better go too. I’ll catch you later!” He then waved them goodbye as they went their separate ways.

Later that night, Samson took a long, deep look in the mirror in his bathroom. On the ground were the tatters of his blue shirt and jeans.

Was he different? Samson frowned. He knew his clothes had been getting tighter lately, but he had just bought those. He knew he had been rather tensed up when he had torn them, but it didn’t seem like the right reason. If anything, he felt that his clothes had ripped apart because he was bigger, as weird as that sounded.

He looked into the mirror again. He made his pecs bounce up and down, then traced the veins on his forearms. Was he bigger? He felt like he was bigger somehow, but that was ridiculous. Sure, he worked out hard in the gym, but such a dramatic and rapid change was just out of the question.

Samson made a glance towards the electronic scale in the corner of the bathroom. What better way to banish these feelings then to prove himself? He walked over to the scale, let out a deep breath, stepped on and looked down.

The scale read 230 pounds, a pound shy under Riley’s weight. Samson had gained ten pounds in less then a week.


By the Book 2

The Shower Scene: In an earlier chapter, Samson had been tempted to rape Larry, a guy that had features so similar to Logan that it aroused Samson almost uncontrollably. This event was based on a similar event in the book “The Scarlet Letter”, where Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was confronted by a nun. The nun was described as a beautiful young lady that had been inspired by Dimmesdale’s powerful sermons. However, Dimmesdale had a sexual attraction towards the nun and barely prevents himself from revealing his secret. He would avoid the nun, be rude to her and push her away to the point where the nun actually breaks down and cries. Dimmesdale, feeling proud of himself for resisting temptation, then goes down to the docks and tells dirty jokes with the sailors. Similarly, Samson was confronted with an attractive guy (At least to Samson) who idolized him. Samson was sorely tempted to do lewd things with Larry, but he managed to break away, even though it ended up hurting him. After that, Samson immediately goes out and has a small orgy with 4 guys.

If you compare these two events, you would see that both of the beginnings were almost identical, though how it ended morally was different. Dimmesdale traded curses with the sailor as a for of reward since he had been able to resist temptation that day, though Samson had sex BECAUSE he didn’t give in, and felt the need for release. Both of these characters are faced with things that test their morals to the extreme.

Logan, the Sinner: Most people view Logan as a tragic victim. When compared to Hester, he fits the role perfectly. Logan has become an outcast to the Kin-Lam Vuran (Kin-Lam Community) and is treated like a plague. Similarly, many people avoid Hester because of her sin, and woman wouldn’t even touch her. They both have artistic talents, however, which is easily visible behind their seemingly faults. People admire Hester’s amazing stitch work, while Samson admires Logan’s sketches.

Another similarity I would like to point out concerns Logan’s act of cutting himself. Though it is a religious ritual to him, the pain he inflicts upon himself in his cutting is similar to Dimmesdale cutting the letter A in his chest. Both men have scars from their cutting, though they are constantly reopening their wounds and making their scars fresh. They both hide their scars from the world so that ordinary people cannot know of the things they are doing to themselves. In “The Scarlet Letter,” this act is a way for Dimmesdale to repent for his sin. Logan, on the other hand, does this in order to prevent other people from being dragged into his own sin.

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